10 ZXA5 powered two-way 15“ loudspeakers-the state of the art in high-powered polypropylene enclosure boxes-provide full-range sound at the I-Lounge in Orange County. “They were looking to create a high-energy space for DJs-a club/lounge atmosphere,“ Walter Orth explains. “The ZXA5 matched their budget requirements while surpassing the expectations in terms of performance-perfect. We installed eight boxes for the main system-four on each side of the room-plus four QRx218S subs for low-end support, with all the subs powered by a single EV TG-7 amp. Two more ZXA5s serve as DJ monitors. The system has two configurations: one for DJ sets, using all the speakers; one for live performances that only uses the speakers on the rear stage side. The subs are broken out too, running on an auxiliary channel for live performances. For DJs, everything is preset, and runs to the appropriate speakers.

“The owners and DJs love the sound of the system; the ZXA5s provide an unbelievable amount of power for such a small footprint. And, in the afternoons while they’re serving lunch, they like the fact that the systems still offer superb clarity and coverage at far lower SPLs. Then later on, after 10pm, they turn it up and have enough headroom to shake the whole building-but the sound stays just as clear. The components in these boxes are just amazing (DVX3150 woofer and ND2 compression driver). ZXA5 offers the best of both worlds, and at a reasonable price point-powered boxes helped keep the project within budget without cutting corners on performance.

At L8 in Huntington Beach, Orth Design installed a distributed system of 26 ceiling-mounted Sx300 boxes to cover the large dining room/lounge area, along with more low-end support via QRx218S subs. “The SPL is even to within one dB anywhere in the space,“ says Orth. “The same thing happens at this venue-over the course of a normal day the boxes are run from very low volume to very loud, and do both exceptionally well. They can adjust the system over the dance floor area when necessary. Loud or quiet, the intelligibility and full-bandwidth response is intact. There’s a reason Sx300 is such a widely-used box: they simply sound great. I also like the full-grille option-that gave us the look we wanted for this install. In terms of sonic quality, style, and price point, the EV solutions stand alone.“